"Warriors of Abyss
The Warriors of Abyss, also known as the Hordes of Abyss, the Followers of Abyss, the forces of Abyss Undivided, the forces of Ruin, the Dark Land Barbarians (not to be confused with the Children of Bul-Khatos) or simply just the Darkmen, are the names given to a race of savages, warlike tribes of Human barbarians that occupy the harsh and unforgiving lands of the Dark Lands located in the realms that are swarming with the Daemons and horrors of the night.
It is only in the Dark Lands that the mortal plane mingles with the hellscape of the Realm of Ruination.
The first time that the Darkmen Barbarians attacked the Netherworld was during an enormous Abyssal Incursion instigated by one of the Everchosen of the Abyss. The Darkmen Barbarians are considered by the civilized peoples to be the enemies of all order.
Their unwavering worship of the uncaring and sadistic pantheon of the major Abyss Gods has given them a single, driving motive to usher in the inevitable downfall of all mortal-kind into their hellish enslavement and ultimate extinction.
Slaves to darkness all, they have given themselves wholly to the Ruinous Powers, some willingly, others because they felt they had no other choice. No matter how many of these marauders are killed, no matter how many invasions are pushed back and enemy armies annihilated, the Hordes of Abyss can never truly be defeated, and after a few years of relative peace, they shall once more come down south and begin the vicious cycle once again."
- From the Book: Introduction of the Forces of Ruin
***
Draconic Deus was always rich in Magic, but since the Abyssal Incursion, the levels of Magic started subtly increasing.
Since then, the entire supernatural world started studying the nature of the world, and its cosmology. From the captured Daemons and even some of their cultists, the inhabitants of the Draconic Deus, though it was almost limited to the Devils, learned of their Cosmology.
The World Axis Cosmology.
Which was relatively simple.
The World Axis was composed primarily of the fundamental and parallel planes. "Above" and "below", the fundamental planes encircled the rest of the cosmology, forming hemispheres in the conceptual model, though since both the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos were infinite in size, this was mostly metaphorical.
What the inhabitants of the Earth called the Dimensional Gap was actually an Astral Sea; it was described as a barren place of other-dimensional nothingness extending in all directions. What little solid substance that floated in the bright, gray void was typically chunks of matter broken off from their original plane.
It was connecting the Prime Material Plane with the other Planes and Dimensions, while it was also the place where Gods created their Divine Kingdom or Divine Realms of the Pantheons as they were anchored to the planet within the Prime Material Plane.
To the "left" and the "right" of the Prime Material Plane, which laid at the center of this cosmology, sit the parallel planes, which floated in sync with the Prime. Together, these planes formed the World Axis, with other planes lying outside of the model and having an indistinct cosmological placement.
The inhabitants of the Draconic Deus were aware of only Earth, but for many old Pantheons, they had knowledge about the existence of different Planets within the Prime Material Plane. The Divine Realms of the various Pantheons that were located in the Astral Sea were sometimes even bigger than the planet itself.
The Netherworld itself was located within the Astral Sea and was connected to Earth and to other locations within the Astral Sea and the Elemental Chaos. The Abyss that got connected to the Netherworld's 1st Layer Avernus and 2nd Layer Pandemonium was located within the Elemental Chaos.
The Netherworld had a very high concentration of pure raw Magic in the enviroment, and even the Planar Laws in the Netherworld were very strong. Since the Abyssal Incursions and the moment when the Realm of Magic started flooding the Netherworld, the Planar Laws in the Netherworld started getting more and more powerful.
Well, that was a good thing for the Netherworld because the entire plane was getting stronger, and it was easier for the Devils to progress through the Classes.
Since the Netherworld got connected to the Abyss and by extension the whole Elemental Chaos, the Devilkind had countless new High-Class Devils and even many old Devils managed to reach the Ultimate-Class.
Sirzechs and Serafall spend the next ten minutes collecting the Hex Crystals that formed in the area after the death of the Daemons with their hands. Normally, when one killed a Daemon, their Magic would return to the Abyss to their true body, as they couldn't be really killed here.
And this was also the truth for the few Daemons that were killed on Earth or even some that managed to reach the Divine Realms of the Pantheons. Yet, when they were killed in the Netherworld, while their souls in the Abyss were untouched and would return there upon their "death", their Magic would remain within the Netherworld and be assimilated by the Netherworld.
The entire area where Sirzechs was fighting against the Greater Daemon of Khorne was right now seeded with the Hex Crystals.
The pure crystallization of Mana in the most primal form.
These crystals were in high demand in the Draconic Deus, especially by the Magicians who used them for various purposes, but also by the other races and factions. Devils were also using the Hex Crystals, as they could absorb the Mana from the Hex Crystals and transform it into the Demonic Energy.
Due to the potency of the Mana inside the Hex Crystals, it was even possible for the Devils to absorb some parts of it, converting the Mana inside the Hex Crystals and increasing their Demonic Energy.
Although this process was very slow and required specific methods to function properly, it was well-suited to the task.
"Are you finished?"
Sirzechs asked as he was already finished with collecting the Hex Crystals that were created in the area after slaughtering a few thousand Abyssal Daemons. They managed to get a lot of them, which was good, because it never hurt to have too many of the Hex Crystals.
Right now, the Devils were using them as some sort of currency, and their value was quickly rising.
It was something similar to the value of the Soul Coins, as the Soul Coins were used by the Devils as primary currency not only due to their unreplicability and value, but also because the Devil could consume them.
Due to the specific process in which they were created, from the Imperial Gold and a few other materials, the Soul Coins were made from the souls of the living beings. Devils could consume the Souls to increase their power, albeit the process was a bit more complicated than it seemed.
If the Soul that they were consuming was too powerful, they could actually pretty much hurt themselves, and it could become very dangerous for them. Nevertheless, for the Devils and Demons, the Soul Coins were the best currency as the two species had unified currencies due to their value.
Though it wasn't like they weren't trading or using other valuable things, like the already mentioned Hex Crystals or Imperial Gold.
"I am done!"
Serafall's cheerful voice resounded through the place as he turned around and saw her hopping here happily amid the frozen environment. Her mutated Clan Trait has frozen everything to the icicles.
"Then let's go..."
Sirzechs muttered as he ignored Serafall's remarks and how she was showing "cool poses", how she defeated the bad Chas Dameons, or rather, he pretended that he was listening to her while occasionally praising her genius.
***
Unnamed Fortress
During the past hour, Ajuka finished creating the Barriers and Defenses around the valley, and he thought that they were pretty lucky, because the valley was located on several ley lines that were crossing together here.
The congregation of the Mana in the environment was enormous from all of the ley lines. Due to this, the place was very suitable to become a city in the future or a location of great importance, as the number of ley lines in this area was high.
Meaning any kind of Barriers and Wards that would be laid down here would be extremely powerful.
Certainly, due to the presence of a great number of ley lines, it took Ajuka and Falbium a bit longer to lay down all the Wards, because once Ajuka realized the exact number of the ley lines, he knew that this place would be kept and wouldn't be just some temporary stop.
This was the reason why they needed to do the Wards and Bounded Fields properly, and it took time. While Ajuka was highly experienced in the Magic, there was nobody better in the Defensive Magic than Falbium due to the Phalanx.
While Ajuka and Sirzechs were geniue Super Devils, Falbium and Serafall were Incomplete Super Devils. As the scientist he was, Ajuka delved into the depths of the differences between them.
Mainly the differences between Devils or how they were also called more specifically Ordinary Devils or Common Devils, Higher Devils which were the Devils with powerful Lineages and Clan Traits and Super Devils.
After some time, he came to the conclusion that Super Devils were another form of a higher Evolutionary Stage and were basically superior Higher Devils. Or... one could say that they were undergoing Atavism and were closest to what they were, or at least, the basis on which they were created.
He knew that the Devils were not created out of nowhere, but instead, there was some genetic material used in the creation of the very first generation of the Devils, and it was combined with the Genome of Yahweh himself by Lucifer through the Book of Lucifer.
The Devils were connected directly to the God of the Bible on the Genetic Level, thus the humanoid appearance, and then to the Demon Race on the other side. From the Demon Race, things like their wings, tails, and horns came.
Super Devils were standing above the common Devils because they were undergoing Atavism toward not only their Demon-side of the Genome but also the one that was inherited from Yahweh.
After discovering this, Ajuka concluded that this was a groundbreaking milestone, because it could move them toward creating more Super Devils in the future, perhaps even evolving further beyond the Super Devil species.
Of course, for that, they would need the cooperation of the Demons, especially those more knowledgeable in Magic and technology.
The Demons were also inhabitants of the Netherworld that lived in the 3rd Layer of the Netherworld named Gehenna. The Demon Race was much more powerful than the Devil Race, especially with the Overlords that ruled over them, because each Overlord was a God King Class being.
Compared to the Demons, Abyss Daemons of Abyss were beings of pure and raw Magic given form. Bodies of the Daemons were not of flesh and blood, but only the raw powers of Magic that were materialized and corrupted beyond all recognition.
As Ajuka was finishing with another Runic Matrix and laying down the defense around the place, he noticed that Sirzechs and Serafall were as they returned from the fight against the Greater Daemon of Khorne that was wandering through these lands.
Because this was a newly expanded area, there was a great number of Abyss Daemons that could freely materialize in the realspace due to the very high Magic density in the Netherworld.
Most of the Daemons that were materializing in the Netherworld's first few Layers were the ones from Khorne for some reason, though it wasn't like the Devils didn't fight against the Abyss Daemons of the other Abyssal Gods.
"I see that you have taken care of the Greater Daemon."
Ajuka stated neutrally when he saw that neither Sirzerchs nor Serafall was injured, which was a good sign. This place was dangerous, and unless they created proper fortifications in the case of the largest attack, it was best if they were in their top condition.
At the same time, there was the matter of the Fallen Angels, because this was the Frontier Territory that didn't belong to anyone. It would basically belong to anyone who managed to occupy the territory by force.
And right now, the Gremory-Bael Alliance was investing a lot of resources in the conquest of this Frontier Territory. And as they were speaking right now, the Gremory House was assembling their Legions that would march into the Frontier immediately after the fortress was established.
Soon afterwards, the Legions of the Bael House would also arrive, though that would take more time, because the Bael Territory is much farther from the Gremory Territory, which borders the Frontier Territory.
"It was rather powerful... the number of the Daemons that are materializing here is much higher than usual."
Sirzechs stated that when they were crossing through the Frontier Territory, the number of Daemons that were materializing from the Abyss was rather high.
Though... this wasn't really that much surprising as the Frontier Territory was created by the expansion of the Netherworld, which meant that the space was still unstable and thus the Daemons could materialize in this place much more easily and without much effort.
The entire first three Layers of the Netherworld were expanding significantly.
"Once the space stabilizes enough, it would be much harder for them to materialize, and the chances will be reduced to the standards across the Netherworld."
Ajuka answered as he was measuring something and gathering data. He wasn't really interested that much in fighting against the Daemons of Abyss; in fact, as he was in the Magic and their origins.
For Ajuka, the Daemons of Abyss and the entire Ruination was an interesting and fascinating concept that he wanted to uncover. Right now, the Netherworld was primarily connected to the Abyss and thus was facing most of the Abyssal Incursions out of all planes and realms in the Draconic Deus Segment of Astral Sea.
Fortunately enough, Earth was not connected to the Abyss, or it would already be swarming with the Daemons. Over time, though, the Abyss got connected to some other planes in the Astral Sea and the Divine Realms of the Pantheons in the Draconic Deus Segment of the Astral Sea.
Even though one might think that such a thing was beyond negative, in fact, the Netherworld was profiting immensely from the connection to the Realms of Magic. The infinite amounts of Magic that were filling the Elemental Chaos were flooding into the Netherworld.
The Planar Laws of the Netherworld were also growing tremendously due to this, but the downside was that teleporting out of the Netherworld was growing increasingly harder. In the past, most people who reached the High-Class could easily teleport out and in from the Netherworld to Earth.
Now it was impossible, and even some of the strongest Ultimate-Classes were seriously struggling with the teleportation. Ajuka predicted that in another century or so, even those at the High Ultimate-Class wouldn't be able to teleport out of the Netherworld.
Their only choice would be either to use one of the natural portals or master Space Magic to such a degree that it would allow them to do so.
"It is a shame that you couldn't capture the Greater Daemon alive..."
Ajuka muttered as he wanted to get his hands on the Greater Daemon that was alive. It would be an enormous treasure trove of information and resources. Obviously, this was just a pipe dream, as the Greater Daemons were comparable to the Ultimate-Class beings at minimum...
The stronger ones, the ones with Titles like the one that Sirzechs and Serafall killed, were comparable to the High Ultimate-Class, and he knew that there were even some that were comparable to the God-King Class.
So, capturing one and having it imprisoned was rather hard.
Yet, there were not really many sources from which they could obtain the Lore on the Winds of Magic. The Winds of Magic was something that was inherently fascinating for the Devils as one of the species that were incredibly attuned to Magic.
Unfortunately, there was the fact that, contrary to the Magics that were known to the Draconic Deus, the Winds of Magic were something that was totally unknown, and as they lacked any Lore, the progress was abysmal.
"Well... hopefully in the future we can capture one of Tzeentch's Greater Daemons and perhaps we can get some information out of it."
Tzeentch, also known as the "Changer of Ways", the "Lord of Change", "Lord of Sorcery", the "Lord of Entropy", the "Great Conspirator", the "Weaver of Destinies", and the "Architect of Fate", among many other names and titles He was the Abyssal God of change, evolution, mutation, intrigue, ambition, knowledge, sorcery, destiny, lies and trickery.
Tzeentch's Daemons were the ones that were using the Sorcery and Magic the most, and they were also known to have the deepest understanding of the Magic.
It wasn't really surprising, because when the Devils started clashing against the Daemons of Tzeentch, they realized that the Greater Daemons of Tzeentch could already use the Magic of Draconic Deus.
The discovery of the entire Cosmology and how vast the world actually was, brought many things...
Including the discovery of the Winds of Magic.
Invisible currents of Magical Energy, the very substance of Elemental Chaos, which flowed across the entire Cosmology, primarily from the Elemental Chaos, which was the greatest congregation of the pure and raw Magic in the entire existence.
The influence of the Winds of Magic upon the Prime Material Plane was often bizarre, unforeseen, and random, just as the world affects them in bizarre, unforeseen, and random ways.
It can be said with a degree of certainty that Magic will always change elements of the mortal plane that it comes into contact with, but it is difficult to anticipate what form this change will take. Magic bends and unbinds the physical laws of creation and can remake reality such that things and processes that otherwise could not exist come into being.
The Winds of Magic was unlike any other Magic that was native to the Draconic Deus.
Be it in its usage or power...
Most of the Magics in the Draconic Deus Segment, as they called their part of the Astral Sea and the corresponding area of the Prime Material Plane, were Bloodline / Racially based. The Winds of Magic was a completely foreign and new Magic System.
To be able to harness the power of the Winds of Magic required innate talent and attunement that even some of the more talented supernatural species of the Draconic Deus lacked.
It was like the Winds of Magic were choosing the people who were worthy to wield them. Though it was noted that Devils, Demons, and Dragons could do it with unnatural ease, but that was given because of how closely aligned with Magic these species were.
The Devils categorized the Winds of Magic into the eight categories:
The eight different Winds of Magic and their associated colours and Lores of Magic include the following:
Aqshy - The Red Wind, the Lore of Fire. The Bright Magic was the coalescence within the Aethyr of the emotional experience and abstract of passion among mortals in its widest possible sense. It was the projection into the Aethyr of the emotions of brashness, courage, and enthusiasm. Unmatched in the arts of Fire and Pyromancy, one could command Flames and Fires of all kinds.
Azyr - The Blue Wind, the Lore of Heavens, manifestation of the Stars, and allowed the wielder to use the power of Stars, wield the might of Weather and Lightning to their wishes, or it could be used for the Divination Arts. According to the information they gathered, the Celestial Magic was one of the most obscure ones.
Chamon - The Yellow Wind, the Lore of Metal. It was a manifestation within the Aethyr of the abstract and reality of logic, the mortal desire to quantify, the mortal desire and need to learn and instruct, and the wish to implement learning to practical or tangible ends as embodied. The Magic of Chamon was Alchemy, the art and science of transmutation, creation, and investigation.
Ghur - The Brown Wind, the Lore of Beasts. The manifestation within the Aethyr of the wild and bestial spirit of the mortal world and its animal inhabitants. Ghur was formed from the existence, experiences, and observation of wild beasts and the untamed places in which they dwell. According to the Daemons, it was most commonly used by the Druids and other Nature Magic Users and was a manifestation of the Wood Element.
Ghyran - The Green Wind, the Lore of Life. Embodiment of the Aethyr's momentum towards growth and the need to nourish and be nourished. Ghyran is the Aethyr's echo and mirror of life's fertile and nurturing aspects, the wind of healing most associated with concepts of vitality and health. This Wind of Magic was also rather commonly used by the Druids and other users of the Nature Magic.
Hysh - The White Wind, the Lore of Light. It was the Aethyric manifestation of Light, including all the uses light can be put to and all the metaphysical abstracts that light sometimes represents to mortals, like enlightenment and purity.
Shyish - The Purple Wind, the Lore of Death. Shyish was a metaphysical projection of mortals' dread, a reflection of all trepidation felt when faced with the unknown and the fear self-aware life feels towards death and its own ending. Yet, it was also the terrible awe of death, a manifestation of the non-divine reverence and respect mortals projected onto that which they considered sacred or special.
Ulgu - The Grey Wind, the Lore of Shadow. Aethyr's embodiment of and reaction to the emotional experience among mortals of being lost or confused. The Lore of Shadow contains spells of darkness, invisibility, shadowy death, and panicked bewilderment.
Unfortunately, despite all of the factions that the Devils obtained on the Winds of Magic, they lacked any sort of training method or knowledge on the Lores themselves. Aside from the most superficial information that they have obtained from the Daemons.
Some of the Daemons of Abyss were rather talkative when one knew how to talk with them and could be tricked into signing the Devil Contract. This was obviously something the older generation of Devils, who often managed to trick some Daemons with knowledge, could use to extract that knowledge from them through their tricks and cunning.
It was rather a shame that the Daemons couldn't say anything that was really important, as if they were forbidden from saying something.
"Such a situation would be ideal, but I don't think that it would be so easy... Greater Daemons of Lord of Change are not only powerful but also very cunning... but we can always try."
Ajuka stated that he didn't really have great hopes about capturing Greater Daemons of Tzeentch.
"When are you planning the march? We need to secure as much of the territory as possible before the Fallen Angels notice and come to bother us."
Ajuka changed the topic as he went to the matter that was pressing them more. Currently, they have around 15,000 troops in the fortress, together with some equipment and heavy weaponry.
This wasn't enough to resist the charge of the Fallen Angels which were lingering around everywhere... Within the 2nd Layer of the Netherworld Pandemonium, Devil Domain directly bordered the Fallen Angel Domain, so clashes and fighting were inevitable.
Or the Demonic Beasts that could appear in greater numbers out of nowhere.
Fortunately, the place where they built their forward fortress was easily defensible, which gave them a certain kind of advantage. Still, they needed to clean out as much territory as possible before the reinforcements from the Gremory Clan would arrive.
"The defenses seem to be rather complete, so tomorrow I would be leading the Burning Legion into the surrounding area and start laying down the forward wards."
The Burning Legion was the pride and might of the Bael and the reason why the House Bael was able to maintain its supremacy above the other Devil Noble Houses.
Obviously, what Zekram gave Sirzechs was actually only one half of the Burning Legion, the weaker half, and despite that, it started off with power as a late-stage Middle-Class, with a good number of the High-Class, while the commanding officers were at the Ultimate-Class.
The power of the Burning Legion was unquestionable.
They were the best of the best, cultivated by the Bael Clan to be their strongest shield and sharpest sword. The Devil Race was a strictly controlled, strength-based social hierarchy, and usually the one with the biggest fist carried the most authority.
Which wasn't really that surprising, considering the fact that the entire world functioned.
Humans on Earth were not any different from how they are now in their Renaissance era or something like that... and they were still killing each other for power and prestige by thousands.
"In a few days... we need to clean the entire region and scout for the potential threats before the main Legions of the Gremory arrive."
The task of Sirzechs and Burning Legion, supported by some Gremory Clan troops, was to serve as Vanguard, before around ten Legions of Gremory Clan would arrive at their location and incorporate this entire newly expanded territory into the Gremory Dukedom.
Of course... before that they needed to dispose of all Greater Daemons or Fallen Angles that found their way here. Ten whole Devil Legions were scheduled to arrive in a few weeks, after their role as the Vanguard had ended.
Then, with more than one hundred thousand troops under his command, it would be much easier to guard and control the territory.
"Well, having more space is always good... and the second Layer is growing rich in the Hex Crystals and other materials... did you know that there are even some in the first Layer Avernus?"
Contrary to the Pandemonium, Avernus, as the topmost Layer of the Netherworld, was predominantly empty aside from a few military outposts of the various species living in the Netherworld and Demonic Beasts that roamed the entire Layer.
Avernus was becoming the only Layer of the Netherworld from which one could safely teleport to the Prime Material Plane or any other Plane, and thus, the balance in Avernus was especially delicate.
"Yes... but you should be aware that Avernus is ticking time bomb... Fortunately enough, most of the Gods residing in the Netherworld were killed, and Hades's Realms were hit pretty hard, or else we would be fighting against him too..."
Sirzechs stated, thinking about the state of Avernus, because the Devil Government, under his grandfather's leadership, was maintaining a significant military presence there and controlling several important fortresses.
All of them were built near or around the Dimensional Pathways that connected the Netherworld with the Prime Material Plane, more specifically, Earth, or connected it with other Planes in the Astral Sea.
And the same could be said about the Grigori, Hades's Domain of the Dead, various Overlords of the Demon Race, or some other minor species that were calling the Netherworld their home.
"Yes... Very unfortunate, and we weren't even accounting for the constant raids of the Daemons... Luckily for us, they cannot enter the Prime Material Plane and devour all Souls, or our race would be in a much direr state than right now."
Sirzechs nodded, because this was rather saving grace that the Daemons of Abyss cannot enter the Prime Material Plane, as easily as they were beings of pure Magic... which meant that they could not just enter the Prime Material Plane, as they would be rejected.
If they started raiding Earth, the devils would be left without the streams of Souls, which were something crucial for their race, or the Pantheons would be left without Faith and become tremendously weakened over time.
"I am going to check on Falbium and his progress with the fortifications."
Falbium Glasya-Labolas was in charge of building the fortifications for their still unnamed fort, while Jabberwock Behemoth was cleaning out the entire surrounding areas from the presence of the Daemons that were lurking here and there.
Ajuka was here mainly for research purposes as he wanted to research the Mana Crystalization Process of the killed Daemons of Abyss. And Serafall went only because Sirzechs was going, as she wanted to go with her boyfriend, because she viewed it as a picnic.
Serafall went to take a shower, or rather, conjure herself water and take a bath, because she didn't like the smell of the blood and gore from the Daemons. Interestingly enough, even if they were created from raw Magic, they still left around a lot of blood and filth when killed.
She was already complaining a lot that this wasn't much according to her wishes and how she thought it would be... nevertheless, her help was actually invaluable on the battlefield because she could almost effortlessly freeze entire hordes of Daemons.
Not to mention, when she froze them, there was a huge chance that they would be killed during the freezing, and even if not, then just one explosion that would shatter their frozen forms was more than enough to finish the job.
***
Falbium Glasya-Labolas wanted to sleep.
He was pretty tired, and this entire thing was getting boring.
Despite that, he had a task that he needed to finish before he could go to sleep.
Making this fortress in the valley an impenetrable fortress that could serve as the combat post for the entire region. Despite his notorious laziness, Falbium Glasya-Labolas was actually one of the Devil's greatest tacticians and strategists.
The process of turning this entire place into the proper fortress that would withstand the hordes of Daemons or attacks from the Fallen Angels was a lengthy job and would take a few weeks to completely finish every single detail.
And yes...
Every single detail needed to be finished.
Nobody knew how the weaknesses could be exploited during the fight, and it was better not to find out.
So, there are no weaknesses in the architecture of the fortress.
The troops were also scouring the entire valley and the mountains that surrounded it, so there were no underground tunnels or obscure pathways that could be exploited by the enemy.
"It seems that things are progressing smoothly here, Falbium."
Sirzechs appeared near Falbium as his Six Eyes scanned the terrain and instinctively searched for weak spots in the Magic Barriers and Bounded Fields the troops were placing down.
Laying down Bounded Fields and Magic Barriers was a very complex and taxing job... and only Mages who were highly experienced in this field would be doing such a thing. Even though every single devil could use Mage, not all of them were Mages, because only those devoted to the study of Magic full-time were called Mages.
For the highly Magical species, this distinction was pretty important because it was making a dividing line between those who used Magic only as a means of combat or just as a supplement, and those who really studied the secrets of the Arcane.
Sirzechs was actually a Mage because he devoted a lot of time to the study of Magic.
Many devils had actually had a pretty good Magical education that was comparable to the fully fledged Human Mages. Primarily because the lifespan of ordinary devils was very high, even the Common Devils had a minimal lifespan of around ten millennia.
And this number only got higher as the devil in question got stronger or perhaps evolved to a higher evolutionary stage. It was more than evident that no devil actually lived to such a stage of life, because of their nature and the constant wars happening around the Netherworld.
"The terrain here is suitable for the fortress being built, and the entire place is well defensible against possible attacks and Abyssal Incursions."
Falbium said as Sirzechs nodded in satisfaction. Fortunately enough, during the time when the Netherworld got connected to the Abyss, it wasn't the Avernus, Pandemonium, or Gehenna that bore the largest burden of the invasion of the Abyssal Demons.
It were the Gods and Ancient Entities that lived in the 4th Layer of the Netherworld Pandesmos. Pandesmos bore the majority of the Abyssal Incursions and some of the strongest Daemons that ever entered the Netherworld...
Sirzechs knew from his grandfather Zekram, who personally participated in the event that was today known just as "Dusk of the Gods". The Greater Daemons of Abyss massacred COuntless Gods and there was even some Champiosn of the Ruin...
Several God-King Class Gods were killed, countless Gods related to the Underworld, Dead, Souls, and Death were massacred in the war, and only by the collective efforts of most God-King Classes of Devils, Demons, Fallen Angels, and other inhabitants of the Netherworld, and some Pantheons, the Daemons were pushed back to the Abyss.
"That's good... now with the Abyss turning their attention from the Pandesmos to the upper Layers, we need to be as careful as possible. Is the process of installing the Hextech weaponry going smoothly?"
Hextech was something that was developed by Ajuka, changing the face of the Netherworld and how devils were waging war. It was their counter to the Magical Engineering of the Fallen Angels, because devils seriously lacked something like that.
Demons of Gehena already had their version of it... Though they're used to create the living fortresses, their Dungeons acted like Fortress Cities where the Demons lived and collected Mana and Souls.
Hextech was a groundbreaking Magic-based technology that utilized Runes to channel the power of Magical Gemstones known as Hextech Gemstones. These Gemstones served as a conduit for pure raw Mana, enabling the creation of advanced devices that harness this power.
Hextech Gemstones or Hex Crystals could be found naturally anywhere where the concentration of raw Mana was very high. With the Hextech, devils were able to build more advanced weapons, cannons, use the Hextech to enhance their defenses on their cities and forts, and countless other uses.
Right now, Ajuka is even developing the prototype of the Hex-Runic Armor that would allow even Low-Class troops to fight against those in the Mid-Class on equal terms. Sirzechs understood that their race needed to develop in every way.
"It's going good... hopefully those things will work as Ajuka promised that they would work."
Falbium muttered as he himself was unsure, trusting the contraptions that were created in the Ajuka's labs and had not been tested. While Hextech was celebrated for its power and versatility, it also comes with potential risks. The manipulation of Mana can lead to unintended consequences, including dangerous side effects if the Gemstones are mishandled or overused.
In the end, the technology was still very young and untested, but the Devil High Council, which was led by Zekram Bael, was convinced that the Hextech would be another game-changer for their species.
At the same time, Zekram Bael knew how powerful and advanced the Magical Engineering of the Fallen Angels and obscure Arcanotech of the Demons were, so the devils needed to have their own variant.
"They will... Ajuka was never wrong with them as far as... and this is a project that is jointly led by Lord Mephisto Pheles and the Nebiros Clan. The best researchers of the entire Devil Race are working together on this project... And I heard my grandfather say that they want to work together with Overlord Forzelotte on the Hextech."
Sirzechs said that the entire concept of the Hextech wasn't something that was developed solely by Ajuka. While Ajuka was the one who proposed the creation of the Hextech, there were other people participating in the development.
Lord Mephisto Pheles, one of the oldest Devils in existence and also the most powerful Magician on the Devil Race, and one of the few who have already learned Winds of Magic.
Then there was the Nebiros Clan with their Naberius Branch... they were the most scientifically aligned Clans among the Devil Race.
And lately, Sirzechs heard from his grandfather when he met with him at the Bael Castle, that he wanted to invite Overlord Forzelotte. Demon Overlords were comparable to God Kings in power, and Overlord Forzelotte was the only one who had her Dungeon in the 1st Layer of the Netherworld.
She was some sort of Gatekeeper for the 3rd Layer Gehena and the Demon Race, because everyone who wanted to reach the homeland of the Demons needed to go through her Dungeon or the entrance that was on the 2nd Layer and which was heavily guarded by the Devils.
Mainly because Demons and Devils were in fact very close allies. It was a hard alliance, initially full of distrust and problems, but in the end, they were some sort of cousins to each other, and in the face of a common threat, they needed to work together.
Though contrary to the Devil Race, the Demons were not unified, and each Overlord basically did what they wanted.
Forzelotte was also a very famous Magician and Arcane Scholar across the entire Draconic Deus Segment of the Astral Sea.
"Hopefully you are right... Still, do you think that Overlord will agree?"
Both of them went to check some gaps in the defensive network that Sirzechs noticed through the use of the Six Eyes, as his ocular ability was being active non-stop.
When one combined the Six Eyes and its properties with the Extreme Demonic Energy Control Clan Trait of the Gremory, Sirzechs, despite having an overhelming amount of Demonic Energy, was also the best controlled in their entire species.
"Who knows... There are still a lot of things to negotiate, and I just hope that the old man won't send me there to negotiate in his place."
Which was actually highly possible, because Zekram wanted Sirzechs to harness as much prestige and respect among the devil race as possible. His grandson was already pretty famous for his overhelming combat prowess, but that wasn't everything.
Being able to create alliances with the other species or perhaps even draw them into the fold, would be an entirely different thing.
Which was pretty ironic, because even though the Devil Domain was named such, there were also other minor species that joined the Devil Domain. Several of the Oni Tribes that lived in the Netherworld or migrated here from the Earth, settled in the Devil Domain and became its citizens.
Their status was something that would need to be addressed, but Zekram was pushing for a more progressive approach to the Nobility and let them have Noble Titles if they were powerful enough and contributed.
It was rather ironic, because thanks to the Daemons and their relentless assault, a good portion of the Devil Supremacists were dead. Those who didn't fall to the Daemos and other Abyssal monstrosities fell to the assassins.
A few old-timers like Zekram and Mephisto Pheles, who were very proud Pure-Blooded Higher Devils, were aware that, in the face of the Abyss, they needed to be united and, for the best, form alliances with other species.
***
Serafall Sitri had a rather bad time right now.
She thought that this expedition would be just a nice exploration trip with her boyfriend, but it turned out to be a nightmare filled with Daemons, filth, and other things that she could easily and happily live without.
'Could be worse... at least, that pink-haired tramp in not here.'
Serafall thought as she lay in the bathtub. At least one of the positive sides of the military expedition was that, with Spatial Magic, they transported a lot of comforts and luxuries for themselves and Officers.
So she could take a nice, ice-cold bath even amid conquering the new frontier territory of the Devil Domain. She preferred taking an ice bath compared to the ones with hot water, an influence of her mutated Clan Trait, because only the freezing cold water felt comfortable for her.
Serafall needed to be at maximum readiness to chase away all the thots that were attempting to seduce her boyfriend. She could understand their process of though beucase he was one of the strongest devils ever born...
And even right now, despite being only a child, he was already stronger than approximately 99% of the Devil Race. By the time he matured, he would be a total monster... if he managed to reach the God-King Class of power before becoming an Adult at 100 Years Old, then it would be something else.
Devils reached full physical maturity at the age of one hundred; it was the age when they stopped growing, and their growth would completely stop. Which meant that their physical state and Demonic Energy won't be growing spontaneously.
Of course, Demons grew more powerful as they got older, because their Demonic Energy grew together with their age, but the process was actually ridiculously slow. If not, then the Devil Race and even the Demon Race would have thousands upon thousands of Ultimate-Class and higher.
Yet it wasn't the case.
"Hmmm... the water is nice..."
Serafall closed her eyes for a moment as she relaxed in the cold water happily.
Today was a rather long and tiring day. They spent a large part of the day flying toward the frontier territory, and after arriving here, they spent several hours fighting constantly against Daemons and Demonic Beasts.
The entire region where they were right now building the fort, they needed to clean it from the Abyss Daemons, which was a lot of work.
Together with Sirzechs, they even managed to kill one of the Greater Daemons, which was pretty amazing considering the fact that Greater Daemons rarely appeared in the parts of Nehterowlrd like this.
They were also lucky because the Greater Daemon they fought wasn't particularly powerful, or else it would have ended very differently for them. Some of the more powerful Greater Daemons were on the God-King Class level of power.
And there were even more powerful Daemons above that in the Infinite Abyss.
Fortunately, the more powerful the Daemon was, the harder it was for the Daemon to leave the Abyss, so such powerful Daemons very rarely appeared in the Netherworld or in the Draconic Deus Segment generally.
As she closed her eyes, she suddenly noticed that someone had entered her tent, and as her eyes opened, she saw her boyfriend sitting on the chair. She grinned mischievously as she pressed her breasts together in a seductive manner.
"Do you want to join me, Zechs-chan?"
It wasn't like they were not intimate with each other, as the devils were in the end characteristics of the Sin... and Lust was one of the Seven Deadly Sins and a very pleasurable one. Though nobody knew that they were intimate, or else, her parents would give her an earful.
"And freeze to iccile? No, really... perhaps later and outside of the freezing cold."
Sirzechs answered, totally unswayed by his girlfriend's attempts at seduction that were not working on him.
At least not every time.
"Ts... can't handle a bit cold?"
He ignored her attempts to bait him or tease him because it was useless... he was self-conscious enough to know that the water in which she was bathing was cold enough to freeze ordinary devils to death in the matter of a mere moment.
Even though he was rather confident in withstanding the freezing cold, it was far from comfortable compared to Serafall, who found it highly comfortable. Not to mention, even though she was an irresistibly beautiful devil, his self-control and self-discipline, which he had developed over the course of many lives, couldn't be shaken that easily.
"You are not baiting me, Sera... at least not today. I just came here to tell you that we will be moving out soon. Falbium has finished setting out the preliminary defenses, and Jabberwock with his troops has secured the perimeter of the valley."
As these things were being finished, they could move into hunting down all-powerful Daemons that were lurking here and there and slowly cleaning out the region from the greater threats.
When that was done, the incoming Gremory Legions, together with the soldiers that were already here, would finish the rest and destroy the remaining Spawns of Abyss or very dangerous Demonic Beasts.
"Mouuu!!! Already?!"
Serafall was rather surprised by the sudden development that they were already heading out, because she had predicted it would take them some days for the worst and a week or so for the best.
Despite everything, she wanted to remain in the place at least for a few days and relax. Even though she was a very strong Devil and fighting Daemons wasn't anything foreign for her, she was also the sole child of the Lord of the Sitri Pillar Clan, Ranked Prince, Prince Salreus Sitri and Kalcria Sitri.
Technically speaking, Serafall was the spoiled daughter of a couple who had strived for several centuries for a child and was their sole child. However, Sirzechs was in the same case, because powerful devils generally had problems with their fertility.
Powerful devils even more.
Sirzechs's parents were both very powerful devils. His father Zeoticus Gremory was one top-notch Magician and Ultimate-Class devil, and his mother Venelana Gremory, neé Bael, was High Ultimate-Class.
They were the generation that benefitted immensely from the increasement in Magic density of the Netherworld, and when they fought together, they were able to challenge even far stronger beings among the High Ultimate-Class.
Sirzechs also knew that when he was small, there was an attack on the Gremory Dukedom by a rogue God from one of the destroyed Pantheons during the Dusk of Gods. The God himself was Major God and one of the more powerful ones.
Yet he still felt in the hands of his parents when they worked together, even if God was more powerful than any High Ultimate-Class Devil. Divine Sparks of the Gods were highly sought after by the Devils because the Devils could actually absorb the Divine Force in the Divine Sparks to increase their powers tremendously.
Sirzechs knew that it was mainly due to the heritage of Devils as a species that was created from Lucifer's and Yahweh's genomes, together with the genomes of Demons. However, this was information, behind that of their origin, known only to a select few among the First Generation Devils.
With the Divine Spark of the Major God, Sirzechs knew that even his father would sooner or later become High Ultimate-Class, and his mother would be able to reach the peak of the High Ultimate-Class and become one of the strongest devils in their entire race.
"Ts... whatever."
She splashed the water at Sirzechs, who he masterfully dodged as he left her tent to gather the squad of soldiers who would accompany them to the hunt. Because of the nature of the task, only a small group of them would be going into the wilderness to hunt for the powerful Daemons and threats.
***
Gathering the troops that would participate in the mission was much faster, because Sirzechs directly took the strongest ones of the Burning Legion. Now the only thing that remained was to wait until Jabberwock was back from his own mission.
Because he was cleaning out only the perimeter of the vale, it wouldn't take him long to return, and Sirzechs, with his eyes, could see the changes in Mana in the environment. It was increasing considerably, which meant that someone must be massacring Daemons in great numbers.
After the Spawns of Abyss were killed in the Netherworld, they lost their entire Magic, as it would be assimilated by the Netherworld. So, even if their Souls would return to the Abyss, it would take them some time to reform.
And the stronger the Daemon was, the longer he would be reforming in the Abyss.
From what they found, if a Greater Daemon was slain, it would be reforming in the Abyss for whole decades, for the more powerful Greater Daemons, it could be centuries or even millenias.
The amount of Mana that they needed to reform was staggering, and the process was arduously slow.
Of course, if the Abyssal Fiends were killed by special Clan Traits like Bael's Power of Destruction, Lucifuge's Extinction, or Lucifer's Demonic Brilliance of Evil Light, their very own Souls would be incarnated from existence and cease to be.
Like he had done with that Greater Daemon that he killed with Serafall.
Even among the other Pantheons and factions, there were not many beings that could effectively kill the Daemons and not just banish them back to the Abyss, where they would spend some time reforming, depending on the amount of Magic that they lost during the destruction of their body.
Sirzechs knew that even if the Daemons were killed by the Holy Light of the Angels, then it wouldn't kill the Daemons, but it was still more effective, because it would injure their very own Souls, and the time they would need to spend reforming was considerably lower.
And they could kill some weaker Daemons permanently.
Depending on the strength of the Angel.
"Well, it seems that Jabberwock is returning."
Sirzechs commented as he adjusted his Asura Sword because he was already prepared to head out. Serafall too, albeit pretty reluctantly, and Ajuka and Falbium were needed to remain at the base and finish the things here.
There was still a lot of work to be done here, so the two of them couldn't really leave that easily for the wilderness. After Jabberwock returned, Sirzechs took his own troops together with Serafall, as she was using the Six Eyes to search for the powerful Magical Signatures.
Suddenly, as they were searching for the enemy and threats, Sirzechs registered a Divine Aura somewhere in the distance. Which was weird, and at the same time, it was also concerning that there was a God wandering there.
"I have found a God... around three hundred kilometers to the west. Most probably Lesser God."
Lesser Gods were comparable to the powerful Ultimate-Class beings, and they were troublesome to deal with. Sirzechs had to admit that Gods were one of the darling species of their world.
First and foremost, all Gods had some degree of Magical Resistance that was growing together with their Divine Rank. The world itself considered them as Special Lifeforms, and thus, they were enjoying some sort of privileges that were eclipsing everything seen acorss the Cosmology.
The stronger the God was, the lower the likelihood that Magic would work against a Deity.
At the same time, Gods also had Physical Resiliance and durability that was never seen in any species, and thus they were extremely troublesome to deal with, even by opponents that were stronger than the said God.
Then there was a Divine Kingdom.
Something like Personal Dimension of a God, which Gods would usually place in the Astral Sea, and it was their Domain. They were far stronger in their Divine Kingdom than outside it...
Powerful Pantheons would create Divine Realms in which countless Gods would actually fuse their Divine Kingdoms together into a singular Realm under the rule of their respective God King.
"If it's here, I doubt that God is within his Divine Kingdom... perhaps it's one of the Gods from the Pandesmos."
Serafall said and Sirzechs was inclined to agree with her. If it were one of the Gods from Pandesmos, then it would be an immense win for them, because the God was most probably severely weakened from the loss of the Divine Kingdom and a drop in Divine Rank.
"Do you want to hunt him?"
Serafall asked because she knew how valuable the Divine Sparks were to the Devils.
They were one of the species that could walk on more than one Ranking System...
There were many Paths of Power out there, but the most common ones were the Path of Magic and the Path of Divine. There were also some minor Paths, like Path of Life, which was basically cultivating one's Life Force, and some others, but those were usually capped at a certain level, and one couldn't progress with them indefinitely.
Devils, due to their special origin, could simultaneously walk both of these Paths without losing access to the second one, which was the most common case. She knew that her lover was keen on hunting down a Divien Spark of his own to use to become stronger.
"Yes... it's just Lesser Gods and if he is here, then it means that he is here without the acess to the Divine Kingdom... Divine Sparks are rare commodities these days."
She just nodded because Divine Sparks were highly sought after by both Devils, Demons, and even Dragons living in the Netherworld, and the number of Deities in the entire Netherworld was limited.
And after the Dusk of Gods, it was even smaller.
Obviously, neither the Devil nor the Demons could try attacking and robbing the Gods belonging to some of the big Pantheons, as that would create more problems than it's worth... unless these Gods came to the Netherworld to cause trouble, as the first ones did.
"Remain herewith the troops... I am going to check it out alone."
Sirzechs then spread his wings, unlike those of other Devils, because they were far larger and more resembling the huge draconic wings than the bat-like wings of other Devils.
This was the result of his Atavism.
He flew at his fastest speed toward the area where he had sensed the Divine Aura. For the powerful High Ultimate-Class Super Devil like Sirzechs, crossing three hundred kilometers or so at his top speed was done in something around ten minutes.
'Isn't that Kurtulmak? I cannot believe that I am this lucky. Wait a minue... there is another one, but that one is much weaker... Demigod...'
He couldn't believe his luck, because he managed to encounter one Lesser God and also one Demigod in here. He knew that the Gremory Clansmen were blessed with extraordinary luck, but this was on an entirely different level.
Though... when he podnered over it, even that Major God that his aprents killed was mainly due to luck.
Sirzechs knew that Kurtulmak was as the patron Deity of the Kobolds.
Kobolds were aggressive, insular, yet industrious small humanoid creatures. They were noted for their skill at building traps and preparing ambushes, and mining. They were distantly related to Dragons and Urds. Not really powerful species, they were almost everywhere in the Netherworld and some Planes connected to Earth or even on Earth, but they were considered nuisances rather than anything else.
Generally speaking, most of their species lived together with the Dragons as they were usually their servants.
The Demigod that Sirzechs saw was Kuraulyek, Patron Deity of Urds, and was said in legend to have once been the mortal leader of their kind. Urds were just winged Kobolds, so once again, nothing really special.
'If I kill both of them, I could obtain one Lesser Divine Spark and one Demigod Divine Spark... I doubt that my compatibility with them would be high, but they would be good for absorption of their pure Divinity.'
Sirzechs was wary of absorbing the Divine Spark of the Gods, mainly because of the words of his Elders. To reach the High Ultimate-Class, one needed to touch and be able use either Magic Rule for those who were following the Path of Magic or Divine Authority for the Gods.
Because of his connection to the Destruction, Sirzechs naturally chose to specialize in the Magic Rule of Destruction, so if he wanted to assimilate Divine Spark, he would need to obtain a Divine Spark that was at least aligned with the Magic Rule of Destruction.
Or he could very much kill himself.
His parents slew Major God, whose Domains were War, Slaughter, and Massacre, which was pretty close to the Destruction, so his mother could absorb the Divine Spark. His gaze turned to the Demigod Kuraulyek of the Urds, as he prepared the Power of Destruction, which, when boosted by the understanding of the Magic Rule of Destruction, was much stronger than ordinary members of the Bael Clan.
Everything happened almost instantaneously when Destruction Beam hit Demigod of Urds and incinerated his entire body and soul, leaving there only his Divine Spark. It happened so fast that even the God of Kobolds, Kurtulmak, was shocked that they were attacked, and his Demigod servant was killed in a mere moment.
Sirzechs didn't waste any more time, as he teleported in front of the God of Kobolds, his Asura Sword burst out with the Power of Destruction as the sword aimed at the neck of the God of Kobolds.
Yet the God of Kobolds was prepared and managed to block the strike, yet at the price of severe injuries. With the Six Eyes, Sirzechs could see the stateof the Lesser God Kurtulmak, and it was terrible.
As Serafall and he predicted, they were right about the fact that Kurtulmak lost his Divine Kingdom, which wasn't really surprising, as his Divine Kingdom was located at the 4th Layer of the Netherworld Pandesmos.
And what Gods remained in the Pandesmos were now doing everything they could to recover the damage to their Divine Kingdoms. Of course, the easiest way was to assimilate the Divine Kingdoms of the other Gods, so the situation in the Pandesmos was brutal.
It was hard to tell whether Kurtulmak lost his Divine Kingdom to the Daemons or to other Gods who attacked them.
Not like it mattered at all.
Sirzechs actually grinned when he saw that the God of Kobolds had managed to block the strike, but at the same time, due to the power difference between the two of them, Kurtulmak was in a very bad state.
The Power of Destruction wasn't something that even the Gods could easily ignore.
The Power of Destruction that is used by someone who is well-versed in the Magic Rule of Destruction?
Even worse.
Well, he shouldn't have expected much from the Lesser God, which was already one entire realm below his own, and on top of that, it was the Lesser God who lost his Divine Kingdom.
Yet the fact that the strike that he delivered was something that the God of Kobolds survived was fascinating. With the Six Eyes, he saw that God's body was actively fighting against the Power of Destruction inside his body, even if it was failing to do so.
The Power of Destruction of his was highly destructive and far more powerful even for Lesser Gods that would be obliterated by it.
Suddenly, he felt a subtle shift in his Divine Force, which would be normally impossible to notice, but with the Six Eyes and Atomic Perception of Energy and Extreme Energy Perception, it was impossible to miss.
God was activating some sort of Divine Ability that would allow him to escape.
Which was something that Sirzechs could not allow, as he instantaneously appeared in front of the God of Kobolds as he decapitated the God in one single strike. The poor Lesser God didn't even have a time to react as he was killed and his Divine Soul was obliterated by the Power of Destruction.
One of the reasons why the Gods were so hard to kill was that one needed to do several things to compeltely kill the God, or else the God would just reconstruct his body.
First one needed to destroy God's Divine Soul, like Sirzechs did right now. Then they needed to destroy or do something with the Divine Spark of the God, or else the Divine Spark would accommodate Faith into the said God and even reconstruct the Divine Soul.
Of course, the second requirement was needed only when dealing with the Major Gods and stronger beings because Minor Gods and Lesser Gods were not strong enough to survive the destruction of their Divine Soul, and their Divine Sparks were not powerful enough to handle the reconstruction of their Divine Souls.
"Let's get over the loot..."